Static Cling
by PhantomInvader
Summary: When Danny's field trip is held at the same place as a local middle school's, Danny is paired up with probably the most annoying kid he's ever met! And now she's stuck to him like glue! How can he keep his secret when she won't leave him alone? PrePP DxS
1. Chapter 1

**Mmmmmmkay.**

**Um. Hi.**

**I...disappeared from the DP fandom for awhile. So...uh, I want to see if I can get myself back in here...**

**So here's a new story featuring my OC, Riley. She, my friends, has been my character for a little over two years and has gone through some MAJOR overhaul. She's moved down to a minor character in the long years I've been working the kinks out of her. So much so, in fact, that her being involved in any of my stories is rather unnecessary.**

**So, why am I putting her in a story? Well...I like her. I just do. And if I ever DO decide to put her in a story, I want you to know where the heck she came from, and how she knows Danny, Sam, and Tucker.**

**So. Yeah. And I'm sort of trying to wedge myself back into the fandom here, because I don't have quite the inspiration to update any of my other fics. I'm caught in between to obsessions here, guys...**

**SO. Introducing, Riley Matthews--not to be confused with another character of mine, Riley Frasier--one of the biggest non-ghostly nuisances that our favorite trio have ever encountered. Won't this be fun?  
**

* * *

"Explain the purpose of this trip to me again."

Danny Fenton's head thumped against the bus window, his dull eyes showing how tired he was, and how enthusiastic he was about the latest Casper High field trip. Mind you, enthusiastic is a term used _very _loosely here.

"Apparently we're buddying up with eighth graders from Spectral Middle School, because both Lancer and some other teacher booked this museum trip at the same time," Sam Manson, one of Danny's closest confidants, also sounded annoyed at the arrangement, "instead of one them just moving their trip, they made this oh so _wonderful _compromise."

"Man, this is gonna suck," Tucker Foley chimed in, finally looking away from the game he was playing on his PDA, "remember eighth grade? These kids are gonna be brats."

"Tucker, you shouldn't just assume stuff like that," Sam began to chastise him before he cut her off.

"Remember how we were in eighth grade?"

Danny and Sam shared a glance, and Danny let his head fall against the window again.

"These kids are gonna be brats." He moaned.

"Hey, Danny you got it the hardest," Tucker told him, "if a ghost shows up, how're you going to ditch a kid without getting caught on Lancer radar?"

"I always get past Lancer," Danny looked puzzled, "what're you worried about?"

"Now you've got a thirteen year old who'll rat on you if you disappear."

Danny's eyes widened, "you're really not making this trip very appealing for me."

"You three sound excited," all three students nearly jumped out of their bus seats at the sound of Mr. Lancer's voice.

"Oh, well--we were just--"

"You all should be honored," Lancer was now talking to the whole bus full of students, who snickered when the bus his a bump and he lost his balance, "this is a chance to give a young, high-school bound tween a glimpse into the life of a sophomore. Think of this as a gentle nudge into the world of higher education, and when you realize what a favor you have done these children, you will feel the pride your own teachers feel when their students walk through doors of high school with the knowledge to ensure a fruitful future."

Lancer's heartfelt speech was met with silent stares and an awkward cough from one of the back seats.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker exchanged a glance.

"He could really use a hobby," Sam decided. The boys had to keep from laughing.

* * *

When the bus from Casper High arrived at the museum, the Spectral Middle school bus had already gotten there a few minutes before.

The eighth graders stared at their tenth grade partners, and vice versa. Needless to say, this was very awkward.

"I'm pretty sure they don't want to be here either," Tucker muttered, and Danny merely nodded. Sam nodded too, but before she could say anything Mr. Lancer and the middle school teacher addressed the kids.

"When Ms. Graysee and I call your names, you will come forward and meet your partner for the day. Ms. Graysee will call her students and I will call mine."

"Well, duh," Someone from the eighth grade group muttered, just loud enough to hear. Ms. Graysee gave a brunette girl a hard stare before turning back to her clipboard.

"Zachary Kimble," The aged woman adjusted her glasses as a young boy with dirty blond hair came forward, and before Lancer could speak she held out her hand to the boy. Zachary cheekily gave her a high five. "Gum, Mr. Kimble," Graysee told him sternly, not at all amused.

Once the boy had thrown away his gum, Lancer called Dash Baxter out to meet him. Well, there was one pair taken care of.

Danny sort of zoned out as the names were read off, exhausted from a late night of work as Danny Phantom, the town's ghostly superhero.

"Danny Fenton," the boy started when he heard his name and sluggishly came forward to meet his partner. It was the brunette girl who had received a rebuke earlier. She stared up at him silently, her curious eyes as green as the star on her black shirt. With a jolt he realized that he should have listened for her name.

As soon as the left to join the other pairs, the silence he had been graced with when he first met his partner was gone in a flash.

"So yeah, my name's Riley, and you're name is Danny right? That's cool. I have a cousin named Danny, except he's not like you because he had his fingers blown off by a firecracker that one time he was showing me how to safely use them. Some irony, huh? Anyway, if you ever think about using firecrackers I suggest you don't because you might lose a finger. I figure that must suck."

"Uh…" Danny didn't recall ever meeting someone who could talk that much without stopping for air.

"Oh hey, I even got a pic of his hand without his finger. It's on my phone, you wanna see?" Riley reached into the pocket of her cargo pants and pulled out a beat up cell phone, and Danny held his hands up to stop her.

"No, uh, that's okay." He'd seen some pretty nasty wounds in his life as a superhero, but he wouldn't want to look at them if he had a choice.

"Oh, well, yeah I guess it's pretty depressing. He should've lost his pinky instead, because without that one finger he can't flip people off no more."

Danny desperately waited for Sam and Tucker to get over to where he was. Maybe they would rescue him, or their partners would be people she would want to talk to instead.

"Hey, you okay? You're lookin' kinda twitchy there, dude."

"Yeah, I'm fine." He assured her, casting a glance at Sam and Tucker, who were two of the last few people to be assigned.

'_Help me.' _he thought.

_

* * *

  
_

"All right, all pairs get into groups of three and grab a clipboard," Lancer said as a tour guide handed out worksheets. The entirety of the group groaned. "This is a school sanctioned trip, did you really think you were going to get out of doing some work?"

"We hoped!" Sam's partner, a girl named Emily, called.

"Ms. Parker," Ms. Graysee chastised. Danny never knew one's name could sound so threatening.

"As I was saying," Mr. Lancer continued, "each pair get into a group with two others, and Ms. Allen here will assign you to a certain section of the museum. You will rotate every thirty minutes, so don't dawdle. These worksheets must be completed before the end of the trip, and any copying is prohibited. Every section of The Amity Park Museum of Natural History is something to be experienced first hand.

"In other words, every section museum will bore us to tears in its own special way," Danny remarked dryly. And both his friends and their partners snickered, as well as his own.

The tour guide standing next to Mr. Lancer now spoke, "all right, everyone into groups? Good. Let's see…These groups," Mrs. Allen pointed to the group Dash, Kwan and Paulina had formed, along with Danny, Sam and Tucker. Danny inwardly groaned at the thought, "will go to the first floor west wing, which is over to the left, just follow the signs." It took about 15 minutes until all the groups had been assigned to their areas.

"All right, you've all got until 4:00. So off with you." Ms. Graysee said, waving them off.

As soon as her teacher spoke, Riley dashed off, leaving the others in her dust, and Danny groaning.

"Does she always do that?" Sam asked, and Emily spoke from next to her.

"Yeah," she said solemnly, "you get used to it."

"Well go get her, Fen-Toad. I ain't getting an F because you can't control a little psycho eighth grader." Dash snarled, and Danny shuddered, remembering points would be counted off if a group split up. Lancer made some pretty weird rules.

"I'm going, I'm going…" He groaned, not at all looking forward to chasing the girl. How was he going to get through the day dealing with this kid? If a ghost came around he'd be screwed, not only because he could cost himself a grade if he left to fight it, but also for the fact that his partner might just destroy the museum if left to her own devices.

There was no time to think about it now, though. Now he had to hunt down an ADD little girl.

He wondered if he should be getting paid for this_._

_

* * *

  
_

**This chapter is boring.**

**I'll spice the story up a bit in the next chapter...whenever I get around to it...  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**I think I might be basing Riley's dialogue a bit on that of Haruhi Suzumiya.**

**If you have not watched The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, I order you to do so.**

**Oh, you know who owns Danny Phantom? Huh? It's Butch Hartman!**

**Anyone know who I am? Anyone? I'm NOT Butch Hartman!**

**EDIT: If ya wanna see Riley (drawn by me, but don't let that chase you away) go to my deviantART page. The link is on my profile!  
**

* * *

"Woah."

The area of the museum that Danny's group had been assigned to just happened to be the wing that housed an aquarium. Somehow, creatures that people often considered a smell, slimy food source, could look ridiculously beautiful in a properly lit, gazillion gallon tank. It helped that they were those pretty tropical fish, too.

"Get your face off the glass," Tucker told his partner, a short boy named Trevor, "you're scaring the fish."

"Yeah, you're face is ugly enough without being all squashed against that thing," Zachary quipped from beside Dash, who let out a sneering laugh.

"Your mom is ugly," Trevor retorted, and Sam resisted a face palm.

"If you start telling those stupid "yo mama" jokes, you'll be going for a swim." she growled, only half kidding.

"I ain't scared of you," Trevor told her defiantly. He flinched, though, when Sam's violet glare was focused on him.

"You really should be," Tucker advised him.

Meanwhile, Danny was farther down to the left side of the tank, not looking at all fascinated. Mind you, he probably would be if it weren't for who he was with.

"What kind of fish is that one?" Riley tried in vain to point at one specific fish, but it kept moving away.

"I don't know." Danny deadpanned.

"What about that one?" Riley seemed to take no notice of his lack of interest.

"I don't know." Danny looked over at his group, wondering if he could possibly get Riley to move back towards them.

"That one?" Riley asked.

Danny turned to look back at her, "I don't kn--" his eyes widened, "Get down from there!"

In the few moments that Danny had taken his eyes off her, Riley had climbed up on the metal railing that was used to make sure the viewing public and the aquarium glass were at least a foot apart. Her sneakers squeaked as she moved to get a better position, but Danny's voice had startled her and she fell backwards with a squeal of fright. Hero instincts kicking in, Danny ran forward to break her fall--

--Which he would have done better if he hadn't tripped and fallen himself, landing on his stomach. On the bright side, he did technically save Riley. She landed right on top of him, after all.

After letting out a groan, Danny spoke.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Danny noted she sounded just as energetic as ever, "thanks for that."

"No problem," he tried to heave himself up unsuccessfully, "get off me."

"Right," she rolled off him, smiling sheepishly.

"Danny, you okay?" Danny recognized Sam's voiced, and he rose to his feet with her help.

"Peachy," though this was relatively true, Danny still sounded strained.

"I gotta hand it to ya, Fenton," Dash's voice sounded from behind Sam, and Danny saw the entirety of their group finally moving towards the next part of the museum, "you got the worst luck ever."

"On the bright side," Paulina sneered, "she makes the rest of these kids seem almost normal."

"Hey!" Paulina's partner, a boy named Jordan, said indignantly. However, he couldn't stay mad at his partner for long. One look from her and his angry expression melted. Let's hear it for thirteen year old hormones.

"It isn't my fault you guys don't know how to have any fun!" Riley crossed her arms and stamped her foot. She looked once more at the fish tank and turned back to the group, "let's just go somewhere else, I'm bored."

"All right, follow me." Danny told her, but she was already dashing ahead, and he groaned. "I said _follow _me!"

Sam laid a hand on Danny's shoulder, trying not to laugh. "She's a handful, huh?"

"I'll totally trade you partners," he said hopefully.

"No way." Sam laughed.

Danny sighed and began walking off in the direction where Riley had been running. As the group neared the next area, they heard her shout.

"Anyone who doesn't hurry up receives the death penalty!"

Danny actually thought that would feel pretty good about now.

* * *

Riley scanned her worksheet silently. Danny savored this temporary moment of bliss, but, unfortunately, it didn't last.

"What'd you get for number four?"

"Um, an Orca." Danny checked his own sheet, which he was actually doing. With his grades on seriously thin ice, he couldn't turn down a relatively simple grade.

"Hey, me too." Riley muttered, but Danny noticed her scribbling something down on her paper.

All of the groups had stopped midday for lunch, and they were all thankful for the break, especially Danny. Everyone else was dealing with eighth graders, but Danny couldn't help but feel as though he was stuck with an eight year old instead.

"What's you get for number five?"

"You know, if you cheat on this worksheet, you're only cheating yourself." God, he was turning into Jazz.

Riley just stared at him, and snickered a bit. In spite of himself, he laughed too. That sentence just sounded so corny coming from him.

Suddenly Riley's expression turned solemn. "You don't like me very much, do you?"

Danny, caught off guard by her sudden change in mood, had no idea how to answer.

"Why would you ask that?"

"Well," Riley studied her shoes with great interest, "not a lot of people do, so I wanted to know."

"Well…I wouldn't say, I wouldn't say I didn't, you know, _like _you, it's just, you're kinda…" Danny had fought ghosts, evil billionaires, and been thrown into buildings and therefore caused a lot of property and other sorts of damage. He did not want to add "makes preteen girls cry" to that list.

"Weird?" she offered. Slowly, Danny nodded. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

"Weird is good, though," Danny said quickly, "I know from experience, but…"

Riley didn't take her eyes off her shoes, "never mind. It's not important."

Danny was happy to let the subject drop, but a feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that this whole conversation was going to bother him for awhile.

Next to him, Riley shook herself, and when she turned back to face him her eyes were bright and excited again. Danny blinked. Hanging out with this girl was giving him a severe case of mood whiplash.

"Come on, let's go look at those dinosaur skeletons, huh? I hear they're, like, _huge!_"

Danny was forced to follow as she pulled on his arm. Yes, _the _Danny Fenton was being dragged by a thirteen year old like a rag doll.

Only when he felt an all-too-familiar chill run up his spine, and saw a wisp of foggy breath leave his mouth.

'_Son of a--'_

His inner swear was caught off by a chorus of screams from his classmates and their partners, save for Tucker, Sam, and, to his surprise, Riley. Though she didn't make a sound, she certainly looked terrified, and she opened her mouth as though she wanted to scream, but no sound came out.

A mysterious wind buffeted him and the others, almost knocking him off his feet. He struggled to open his eyes and see what was going on, and when he did, he saw it.

A monstrous snake, coiled up as though ready to strike, loomed over them museum-goers threateningly. It's hiss resembled a ferocious roar, and its fangs were at least eight feet long alone, as far as Danny could tell. The sun glinted of it's sickly green scales as it slithered gracefully towards Danny, taking down every exhibit in its way as though they were made of rice paper. Danny was pressed as far against the wall he could get without crushing Riley, who was trembling and hiding behind him.

"Danny!" He could barely make out Sam and Tucker's voices as the serpent loomed over him. It was at least as tall as his school, he realized. That wasn't why his friends had sounded so worried though.

Everyone in this museum was trapped, and with Riley right behind him, and the tour groups' eyes all focused worriedly on him, so was he.


	3. Chapter 3

**Long chapter is looooooong.**

**There was just so much that had to happen I could. Not. Stop.**

**Enjoy the fruits of my labor.**

* * *

Something you might not yet be aware of is the fact that Danny's train of thought changed into ghost mode long before his body had a chance to do the same. In simpler terms, even if he didn't look like Amity Park's ghostly superhero, he couldn't keep himself from acting like it. And right now, Danny Fenton was thinking fast, analyzing the entire situation, scanning the museum for any signs of a possible exit, or a safe place to change. This search was fruitless, he realized in dismay. And even if he had found a place to transform, that meant he would have to move, leaving Riley, who was still cowering behind him, a sitting duck.

Even through all these obstacles, however, Danny knew he couldn't just let himself give up.

"Riley," He murmured out of the corner of his mouth, not daring to even turn his head lest it trigger an attack from the fifty-foot serpent that loomed over him still. "Don't say anything, all right? Keep quiet, and in three seconds, I want you to run."

Riley didn't reply, though Danny didn't know whether it was because she was obeying, or because she was simply too terrified to speak.

"Trust me," he hissed. The snake's crimson eyes gleamed, and it let a low, menacing rumbling from deep in it's throat.

One.

Only when Riley's grip loosened did Danny realize that she had been clinging to his shirt.

Two.

Danny braced himself, wondering if he would have to come up with a new plan if the girl didn't move.

Three.

The following events happened so quickly that Danny barely had time to register what had happened. He realized that Riley had bolted from behind him, and he sighed in relief. She did listen sometimes!

But he also realized that the sudden movement had startled the snake and, letting out a furious roar, darted towards the girl that it now considered prey.

And as soon as the serpent moved, the rest of the field trip crowd panicked and scattered, save for Sam and Tucker of course. They used the pandemonium to rush over to Danny, their eyes determined.

"Cover me," Danny said. He didn't need to say anything more.

A quick flash of light went unnoticed by the hysterical crowd, and as town hero Danny Phantom darted toward the giant snake, they finally remembered why ghost drills were practiced at school. As though synchronized perfectly, every student and both teachers found as good a place to hide as they could manage, and they quieted down save for Lancer's shout.

"Manson, Foley! Get to safety this instant!"

With one last look at Danny, they both obeyed. When they got over to the group, they heard a gasp of fright from Ms. Graysee.

"Where's Riley?!"

Mr. Lancer looked around and counted his own students, "Daniel's gone as well!"

Tucker and Sam exchanged a glance, then turned to the direction of the fighting. They forced themselves to calm down, knowing full well that Danny would never let the girl--or anyone for that matter--get hurt too badly if he could help it.

However, as Tucker felt inside his backpack, he wondered if Danny _couldn't _help it. He paled as he turned to Sam.

"Sam?" he whispered, "do you have the thermos?"

"No," Sam turned to see Tucker's pale face and her eyes turned worried, "y-you were supposed to have it."

"I thought _you _were!"

"Well I don't have it!"

"Neither do I!"

They both shared one more worried glance.

"Oh boy."

* * *

The art of being an otherworldly half-ghost superhero required intelligence, strategy, strength, and, most importantly--

"Hey, ugly!"

--a little teenaged cockiness on the side.

Danny found the giant snake a rather easy fight now that he had the upper hand. All he needed to do was lead it away from any of the people in the museum, and, in the snake's desperate attempts to catch him, it did more damage to itself than Danny could have inflicted.

He was totally going to have the curator on his case for all the exhibits this thing was destroying, though. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Riley crouched, hidden, behind a pile of boxes in the corner. She seemed to have gotten a hold of herself, as she was no longer trembling or cowering, and she sat watching the ensuing battle with eyes wide with fear and amazement.

Danny refused to let himself be distracted, and flew higher and over the snakes head, goading it into following him. He turned intangible just before he reached a wall, and, as he expected, the snake did not. Danny held back a smirk. This thing was big, sure, but it was also stupid.

When Danny noticed Tucker and Sam had managed to sneak away from the class to meet him, he stopped in his tracks and gazed at them worriedly.

"Guys, get out of here!" he told them.

"We need to tell you something important, Danny, so--" Sam was cut off when the museum lights shut off completely, rendering the whole museum almost pitch black, with only the light of one of the large windows enabling them to see.

"What the…?" Tucker looked up, as though the answer was somewhere on the ceiling. But of course, the answer presented itself soon enough. The great green behemoth busted through the wall, covered in most of the central wiring of the entire museum. The snake hardly seemed to notice, though, as it dove it the trio with a furious his. Danny grabbed his friends' hands and took off into the air to get them to safety.

"So what was it you needed to tell me?" He asked, scanning for a place to land.

"Well, there's good news and bad news, man," Tucker said nervously. Danny was flying at a high speed, and swerving to dodge the exhibits that weren't yet demolished. He could tell Tucker felt a bit queasy, but he couldn't afford to slow down.

"Uh, bad news first," Danny braced himself.

"Tucker forgot the thermos," Sam chimed in, tossing a glare at said techno-geek.

"I did not! I thought Sam was supposed to have it!"

"Me? You were the one--"

"Guys!" Danny shouted over them, stopping their argument instantly, "can I have some good news now?"

"Good news is, I got a plan." Tucker grinned.

Danny sighed in relief, and was about to ask what the plan was when he remembered something.

Riley.

Without warning, he turned on a dime and headed back to where he had last saw her.

"Danny where are we--" Sam began, but was silenced by an ear-piercing scream.

Danny sped up, going towards the scream as fast as he could without dropping his friends. How could he be so stupid just to leave her there? Hadn't he learned anything from ghost fighting? If that snake hurt anyone in this museum he wouldn't be able to live with himself, especially the girl he had been assigned to take care of.

Danny slowed down as he came upon the scene. The giant reptilian ghost had cornered its prey, and it hissed menacingly, it's fangs dripping hungrily. Danny, Sam, and Tucker's eyes widened as they saw the prey the snake had chosen was Riley Matthews herself.

The girl's breathing was quick and shallow, and she seemed to be holding back another scream. She pressed as far back against the wall as was humanly possible, shaking. She didn't seem to notice Danny or his friends, too busy gazing up at the serpent with wide eyes.

"Tucker," Danny breathed, "now would be a really good time to tell me your plan."

"Right," Tucker was equally quiet, quite a feat for him, "you see the wires around that thing?"

"Yeah," Danny nodded.

"And see the sprinklers on the ceiling?"

Danny looked up, "uh-huh."

"Fire an ecto-blast at one of them," Tucker told him.

"What?" Danny looked at him incredulously.

"Just trust me on this," Tucker assured him. Sam's eyes widened as she caught onto the plan.

"That's gonna…" she trailed off and looked back at the cornered Riley. "Riley, move!"

Riley, scared out of her mind, didn't even bother to look for where the voice was coming from, just relieved that she had someone to tell her what she was supposed to do. She dived out of the way as best she could, and the snake roared loudly and reared up, enraged.

"Now, Danny!" Tucker shouted.

With a well aimed blast, the fire sprinklers were set off, and finally Danny caught on to the plan.

The snake's roars turned into hideous shrieks as the wiring that hadn't been completely severed from the wall electrocuted it mercilessly.

Now, Danny half expected it to be angrier than before, and half hoped it would be paralyzed or something similar.

But he hadn't even thought of the possibility that the ghostly snake might explode. Which, by the way, it did.

On the bright side, it provided enough cover for Danny to change back to his human form. On the not-so-bright side, everything and everyone in the Amity Park Museum of Natural History was covered with sticky green snake ectoplasm.

"Ugh," Sam said, trying unsuccessfully to wipe the slime off her arms, "great plan, Tuck."

"Hey, it worked," Tucker shrugged.

"I never said it didn't," Sam replied.

"Your tone implied it," Tucker retorted.

"_Guys,_" Danny sounded frustrated.

"Right. Sorry," they both chorused.

"Ew," Riley's voice sounded from near the wall to the left of the trio. Sam was nearest to her, and helped her to her feet.

"You all right?" Danny asked as he and Tucker approached the girls.

"Mmhmm," she nodded, and then shook her hands, trying to flick the green goo off of them, "I don't even wanna know what this stuff is."

Danny looked at her, confused. The girl had been fearing for her life only moments before, how could she be so calm now? As soon as Danny looked at her, he began to see it was sinking in.

"So…" she began, her voice a little shaky, "I was just cornered by a giant ghost snake, almost eaten, and saved by you guys and the ghost boy, right?"

Tucker nodded, "that about sums it up."

Riley nodded, her eyes wide, "good to know…" she then swayed on her feet, and only Danny's quick reflexes kept her from hitting the ground as she keeled over.

"I think she's handling this rather well," Sam commented.

"Well great," Danny sighed, lifting her up, "she's heavier than she looks, you know."

As they all approached the rest of their field-trip group, they heard a cry of "what if I can't get this stuff out of my hair?!" from Paulina.

Sam gritted her teeth, "why couldn't _she _have fainted instead?"

Danny was about to answer when Lancer and Ms. Graysee stomped up to them, both looking thoroughly angry, "where on earth have you kids been?!"

"We--" Tucker started.

"Do you know how dangerous it was to just disappear like that?!" Ms. Graysee fumed.

"We were just--"

"You could have been killed!" Lancer noticed Riley, unconscious in Danny's arms, "is she all right?"

"She's fine," Danny said quickly.

"Yeah, m'fine…" the girl in question groaned, "just a flesh wound…"

"You don't have a flesh wound," Sam informed her dryly.

"Even better," Riley said wearily, and tried to look at her teacher, "Miss, I just ran off and they came to find me. I would be inside a giant snake's esophagus if it weren't for them."

Danny, Sam and Tucker looked at her in shock. Was she taking the blame? Danny realized that, no, she really wasn't, not on purpose anyway. He supposed that from her point of view, that's exactly what happened. Though he didn't know why she was covering for him, though. He hadn't been there, not as the Danny she knew, anyway.

Lancer and Graysee looked conflicted. As Danny set Riley down, they had both decided.

"Well, I suppose we can't punish you," Lancer said through gritted teeth, "but when there is another ghost attack, I expect all of you to follow procedure. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly," Danny, Sam and Tucker chorused.

"Riley?" Ms. Graysee prodded.

"Got it, Ms. G," Riley gave a faux salute, and Danny could've sworn the old woman rolled her eyes.

As the adults walked away, Riley turned to the trio and smiled.

"Thanks for savin' me and all," she said to Sam and Tucker, back to her cheerful self, "and if you see the ghost-boy again, could you tell him thanks too?"

Danny nodded, "we'll, uh, be sure to do that," he said awkwardly.

"Oh, by the way," she turned to Danny, "where were you?"

"Oh, uh, I was, well…" Danny turned to his friends for help.

"He was…in the bathroom?" Tucker offered, and Danny resisted the urge to smack him in the shoulder. She would never buy that!

But, then again, this is Riley we're talking about.

"M'kay," she said, "and don't worry. I'mma find a way to make it up to you. I totally owe you guys one."

The three teens exchanged a glance.

What exactly did she mean by that?


	4. Chapter 4

**OMG where has Phanny been. **

**In the Coraline section. But now I'm back for awhile.**

**So here's a new chapter of "Static Cling".**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or the song **_Suspicious Minds _**by Elvis Presley**.

**Note: Don't review me to complain about how annoying Riley is. She supposed to be that way. XD  
**

**--Phanny**

* * *

When Danny awoke the next morning and made his way downstairs, he was thoroughly surprised at what he saw. Or rather, _who _he saw.

Why was Riley Matthews in his house, chatting with his sister? How did she even know where he lived?

"Oh look, there's Danny!" Jazz said as soon as she saw him. He noted that her tone was a bit too forced, as though she was trying to put on the façade of being in a good mood.

"Oh, hi!" Riley grinned as she turned around to look at him. Even in the morning, she was still chipper, almost infuriatingly so, in fact.

"Your friend here hasn't stopped talking about you since she got here," as Danny approached Jazz, he could tell her smile was kind of forced, "in fact, she hasn't stopped talking _at all _since she got here."

Danny laughed sheepishly and quickly pulled Riley by the arm into the kitchen.

"What are you doing here?" He asked once Jazz was out of earshot, "how did you know where I live?"

"You got a big ol' flyin' saucer on your roof with your name on it, dude." Riley told him bluntly, and he inwardly groaned. He hated the fact that she was right.

"You still haven't answered my first question," he continued, "_why _are you here?"

"Oh, remember yesterday? The field trip where you were my partner and stuff? There was a huge old snake in the museum and it attacked everyone and you, Sam, Tucker, and Danny Phantom rescued me? Then--"

"Riley, I was _there,_" Danny held up his hand to silence her, "get on with it."

"Right, and I told you guys I'd make it up to you. So since I can't find Phantom and make it up to _him_, I decided that I could at least do it for you and your friends, but I don't know how, so I figured if I hung out with you guys a little I could figure out how to thank you."

"You know, you _really _don't have to do that," he tried to think of a gentle way to tell her to leave him alone, "a 'thank you' is enough, really."

"Maybe for a cookie or something', but you guys, like, saved my _life _and junk." Riley insisted.

"Um…all right, I'll, uh…I'll call Sam and Tucker." He told her. If he couldn't come up with a way to get rid of her, maybe they could.

* * *

One does not know what true torture is until you've had a hyperactive thirteen year old girl singing Elvis songs in a loud, off-key manner for half an hour. Danny had never hated the song "Suspicious Minds" this much since his father stopped singing in the shower.

"Question," Tucker looked completely shocked that one girl could slowly drive him into madness, "does she ever get tired?"

"I can't hear you," Sam replied, "my ears are full of melted brain."

"She just keeps showing up!" Danny forced himself to whisper, "I was hoping you guys knew away to get rid of her!"

"I got nothing, man," Tucker put his head down on the table.

One does not truly know embarrassment until you've had a hyperactive thirteen year old girl singing Elvis songs in a loud, off-key manner for half an hour in the crowded food court of the Amity Park Mall.

Danny got up and approached the girl, who was dancing as she sang (she was actually a fairly good dancer, but the singing took away from it drastically), "Riley?"

"_And we can't build our dreams--_"

"Riley?"

"_On suspicious min--_" she was cut off and Danny grabbed her, holding his hand over her mouth and dragging her toward the table.

"People call security on people like you, you know," he told her as he sat her down in a chair, "you're disturbing the peace."

"Disturbing people in general," Sam added, but Danny kicked her under the table. "Ow!"

"Riley," Danny took a deep breath, "why don't you, uh, go look in one of the stores."

"Okay!" And with that, she ran off, and Danny got the first moment of peace he'd had since he woke up this morning.

"We _have _get rid of her," he said desperately.

"But you can't," Sam told him. Danny looked at her oddly and she continued, "face it, Danny, when it comes to kids you're a total softie."

"I am not!" Danny defended himself.

"Remember Danielle?" Sam pointed out.

"She's my _clone, _Sam, it's different."

"Whatever," Sam shrugged, "my point is, you want her to go away, but you can't tell her."

"I can too!"

"Then go do it," Sam challenged, "she's over there." She gestured to a bookstore were Danny could just see the top of Riley's head behind a bookshelf.

Danny's eye twitched and a bunch of excuses flashed in his mind. His head hit the table with a thud, "oh, God," he said, "I can fight a giant ghost snake but I can't tell a pre-teen girl to get lost."

"Hey, Danny," tucker looked up from his PDA, "she's trying to figure out how to pay us back for saving her, right?"

"Yeah," Danny didn't lift his head from the table, "why?"

"Well, what if we made her think she saved _us?_"

"Tucker, this really isn't worth ripping off the Brady Bunch." Sam said.

"Well if you guys are going to shoot down _everything._" Tucker crossed his arms indignantly.

"Well she's got almost _no _attention span," Danny tried to sound positive, "maybe she'll get bored with us."

"Maybe," Tucker conceded, "but I'm more worried about you, man."

"Why?"

"Well," Tucker seemed to be trying not to laugh, "I think…I think she's got a thing for you, D."

Danny's eye twitched.

"You're not helping."

* * *

That night, when Danny had _finally _gotten Riley to go home, he assumed he wouldn't have anything else to deal with that night.

His assumption was, of course, wrong.

"I've been researching this sort of behavior," Jazz said to him. When he had gotten home, she'd dragged him into her room so she could psychoanalyze his little _situation. _"And it seems as though Riley is not just trying to show how grateful she is. It's like she has developed a deep psychological attachment to you."

"How? I've only known her for two days, why would she latch on to me like this?" Danny asked desperately.

"I don't know," Jazz admitted, "maybe she doesn't get enough attention from her parents, or she doesn't have many friends or siblings. The point is, just telling her to leave you alone isn't going to cut it. She's got something going on in her head, and you and I don't know enough about her to figure out what it is."

"So you're telling me," Danny's eyes were wide, "that in order to find out how to get rid of her, I need to spend _more _time with her?"

Jazz gave him a sympathetic smile, "you can handle ghosts, you can handle her, Danny."

"I'll take the ghosts," he said wearily as he exited her room, "if I went _them _to go away I can shoot 'em in the face."

"That's the spirit." Jazz deadpanned.


	5. Chapter 5

**This is a lame chapter, leading up to a less-lame chapter. I promise.**

**There are too many pop culture references and product placements in here for me to put a disclaimer for. If you've heard of it in real life, I don't own it, dig?**

**--Phanny  
**

* * *

"Come on, guys!" Danny threw his hands up in exasperation as he spoke, "I--there's _got _to be an easier way to do this!"

"As much as it pains me to admit it, D," Tucker began with a resigned sigh, "when it comes to this psycho-analysis stuff, Jazz is usually right. I think her plan'll probably work."

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were currently sitting on Danny's bed, brainstorming. Danny lay back with his head just barely touching the headboard as he tossed a hackey-sack up and down repeatedly.

"I just…I can't go ghost with Riley around, I can't keep my _sanity _with her around, but I guess I have to figure out what's wrong with her or endure a lifelong guilt trip from Jazz."

"It won't be _so _bad," Sam fruitlessly tried to cheer him up, "I mean, she's just a kid. If you can handle Plasmius, I think you can handle a little Pop-Rocks addicted, Karaoke-Spouting preteen."

"Oh my god, the Karaoke…" Danny actually let the hackey-sack hit him in the face as he groaned.

"My point is," Sam continued hastily, "the sooner we help her, the sooner we're free."

"Yeah, okay." Danny sighed. Deep down, he did feel some pity for the girl, and some curiosity as well. He was sure he didn't want to know what was actually bothering the girl, but he couldn't help but wonder.

"You know, unless she decides to act on that little crush of hers," Tucker added, "like _someone else_ should have--Ow!" One did not know pain until their foot was crushed by a combat boot.

"Geez, Sam! Touchy, are we?"

"That _could _have been your face."

"Why should I put up with Riley when I have you guys?" Danny remarked dryly. He tossed his hackey-sack at Tucker.

"You want some of this too, Fenton?" Sam asked, pointing to her combat boot.

"No thank you."

* * *

"Strike!"

"That was _not _a strike," Riley protested as Tucker did a little victory dance. "You knocked down _nine _pins, and the last one fell over when the bowling ball from the other lane hit the side of the thing!"

"Still counts." Tucker said smugly, and Riley pouted, though she wasn't really upset.

"I dunno, Tuck," Sam smirked from her seat at the scoreboard, "I think she's got a point."

"Oh sure, take the side of the girl who thought Tupac Shakur was a Jewish holiday." Tucker crossed his arms as he protested.

Danny slurped his soda as he waited for his turn. He had to think deeply about his bowling strategy, seeing as Sam was a very picky scorekeeper, and Riley was a sore loser if there ever was one.

He had to admit, he was sort of enjoying himself. He was bowling with his friends, and their little tagalong wasn't being quite as annoying as was the norm. She was almost acting normal, and they all were determined to keep it that way by telling her that the snack bar was out of Milk Duds and sour gummy worms. That, and Danny had confiscated the Pop-Rocks she had bought.

"Can I have them now?" Riley plopped herself on top of Danny, who groaned in protest. "Can I have my Pop-Rocks _now?_"

"You've been eating enough rocks," Danny groaned, "you're _crushing _me."

"Shut _up._" Riley snickered, looking only slightly offended, "you're just a wimp."

"Please remove the eighth grader from my stomach." Danny looked at Sam desperately. She smirked.

"Do it yourself, wimp."

"Saaaam," Danny whined, turning himself over and knocking Riley onto the floor, "you're _mean._"

"You both are _sickening._" Tucker snickered, leaning on the scoreboard. Riley stood up from the ground and pouted. "_We _would like to continue playing, so if you two would _kindly_ get a room--" Sam obviously thought that her cola would be put to better use on his head. Riley turned to Danny.

"You gonna let her do that to him?" She asked.

"I'm not getting involved." Danny slurped his drink absently. Shortly after this statement, a blue-tinged puff of smoke drifted from his mouth as he gasped.

"Whassat?" Riley looked at him more closely, "you cold?"

"Uhm," Danny looked at Sam and Tucker, who were still arguing. "Yeah. I think I'll go…somewhere else for a second!" He said, loud enough to get his friends' attention. They looked at him and nodded.

"Where ya goin'?" Riley asked, but Danny waved goodbye and disappeared into a crowd of people. Riley looked at Sam and Tucker, who shared a glance and shrugged.

Riley got up to search for her friend, and Sam and Tucker followed quickly. Man, if they let her find out about Danny, well…they'd be in some serious trouble!

Suddenly, Riley froze, looking up the ceiling as she and the other occupants of the bowling alley heard a cold, cruel laugh.

"I have you know, Ghost Child!"

Riley's eyes widened with excitement and fear as she saw a humongous robot ghost floating above the crowd. She looked around for a moment until she saw it. She jumped up and down as her hero came into view.

"It's Danny Phantom!" Someone in the crowd called, and Riley's eyes brightened.

"Man, Danny's sure missin' out!" She gasped.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi again.**

**How about a little reading?**

* * *

When Danny arrived at school after and exhausting weekend, he met up with Sam and Tucker. He hadn't seen Riley for a whole twelve hours, but he didn't say it aloud for fear of jinxing it. He admitted that the girl was kind of fun, but there was only so much of her he could take.

"You manage to finish Lancer's report, Danny?" Sam asked him when he was about halfway to his locker.

"We had a report?" Danny fretted, and Sam sighed.

"Danny, I reminded you _twelve _times."

"Hey, ease up, Sam." Tucker defended his friend. "I didn't do it either, and I even had it programmed into my PDA. It's just too boring, slips past our interest radars."

Danny and his friends reached his locker, and Sam continued to chastise both him and Tucker as Danny entered his combination. Imagine his surprise when a certain brown-haired, thirteen year old menace tumbled out and landed on her bottom.

"Riley?!' Danny yelled in surprise. He _knew _he'd jinx his good luck somehow! "What the heck are you doing here!?"

"Now you see, I have an excellent answer to that question." Riley told him, standing up and dusting off her cargo pants, "if you'll…you know, give me a sec…"

"Three, two, one." Danny said dryly, pulling her aside with Sam and Tucker covering him to hide her from view. "I want an answer."

"Okay, see, yesterday, at the bowling alley, Danny Phantom saved the day _again, _right? Well, now I _really _want to do more to thank him, so I asked some people, and I learned that your school as where he's seen the most!" Riley began enthusiastically, "so, since _I _have school off, I thought I come by and see for myself!"

"Oh boy," Danny looked at Sam and Tucker, but they shrugged. They had nothing. "Uhm, how did you get in my locker?"

"Oh, well, that big ol' muscley guy who was in our group on the field trip kinda put me in there. I guess he was hoping you'd find me."

"And it didn't occur to you _at all _that you might not be allowed to be here during school?"

"Nope."

Danny literally facepalmed. He shook his head and looked around before speaking to her, more gently this time.

"Look if, a teacher catches you with some kind of pass, you--_we--_could be in big trouble, got it?"

"Uh-huh." Riley nodded soberly.

"So you know you've got to leave, right?" Danny was thrilled that he seemed to be making some kind of progress.

"Uh-huh." Riley looked at her feet. "But then what do I do all day?"

"Uhm, spend quality time with your parents?" Tucker suggested out of the blue. Sam elbowed him. "Ow! Suggestion."

"My dad's at work, and my sister's at daycare."

"What about your mom?" Danny asked curiously. Riley said nothing, and he regretted asking at all.

"She's not around anymore," Riley muttered, before looking up, "can't I _please _stay? If I can convince, like, the principal? Please?"

"Riley, I don't--"

"Please?"

"Look, I--"

"_Please?_"

"Riley--"

"_PLEASE?!_"

"All right!" Danny couldn't stand the watery eyed look she was giving him, and he didn't meet Sam or Tucker's gazes, knowing they were mocking him for caving. "_IF _you can convince principal Ishiyama to let you stay, then I guess…" Danny was cut off when he was given a suffocating hug. "Riley, choking, not breathing."

"Oh, my bad." Riley grinned sheepishly, "where's the principal's office? I wanna go ask her!"

"Uhm, down the hall, to the left." Danny told her, and the girl dashed away. Sam and Tucker looked at him.

"She gave me the _face!_" Danny confessed. "I can't stand that _face!_"

* * *

Skulker, the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter, watched the students of Casper High from a careful distance. The previous day, the elusive ghost child had once again evaded capture, and Skulker had had it up to _here _with him. There had to be _something _he hadn't tried yet.

By the time the children were let out for their break, he believed that he was finally on to something. He'd already contemplated kidnapping one of the ghost child's human friends before, but with their ghost hunting prowess now better than before, he couldn't risk it. Taking the ghost child would require enough energy, he couldn't risk wasting any of mere, albeit competent, humans.

However, there seemed be a new human hovering around the boy. Though she seemed to be thought of as a nuisance by the three, he couldn't help but notice that they had not yet chased her away.

'_Obviously this new human holds some sort of importance to the boy,' _Skulker contemplated silently, _'and she's obviously unaware of the boy's secret.'_

And then the gears in the hunters head began to turn quickly. Perhaps kidnapping wasn't completely out if he had an easy enough target.

And this girl should be no trouble at all.

* * *

"I can't believe principal Ishiyama fell for the face." Sam said dully, picking at her salad. Riley was currently interrogating the lunch lady about the specials (of which there were none), leaving the three with a rare moment of silence.

"I can't _take this anymore!_" Danny groaned in frustration, letting his head fall to the table. "Any new plans, anyone?"

Tucker shook his head, "dude, you need to learn to resist those puppy eyes she gives you. It's gonna kill you one day."

"It's _already _killing me, Tuck." Danny said, "I don't know how long I'll last."

"Hey, guys," Riley slammed a tray down next to Sam, "guess what? This lunch sure isn't worth the $1.50 I paid for it. I think the mac and cheese looks green."

"That's spinach." Sam told her.

"Ah." Riley poked it with her spork. "Ew."

"Aren't you bored yet, Riley?" Danny asked wearily.

"Nope," Riley looked for something edible on her plate. "High school's kinda neat, y'know?"

"No, I don't know." Danny said. Riley frowned.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"No, no, it's fine." Danny lied.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"You don't sound very sure."

"I am completely sure." Danny was growing more and more frustrated by the second.

"You really, really sure?"

"_Yes._" Danny nearly crushed his milk carton.

"Danny, I don't think you're very sure--"

"No! You know what?!" Danny shouted at last. "I'm _not _okay! I'm being followed around by the most _irritating _little person in the whole town! I spend the weekend with you, fine! You come to my school, NOT FINE! Just _go HOME!"_ Danny panted, letting his fall to the table yet again, this time in shame. It only took two seconds to realize he'd gone too far.

Riley's face was a mix of hurt and anger, and she flipped her lunch tray over and stormed out of the cafeteria in a huff, wiping tears from her eyes. Danny, Sam, and Tucker sighed in unison.

Danny felt bad, both because he'd embarrassed the girl in front of the whole school, and because for a split second, he'd felt relieved because of it.

* * *

**Aww dang. I hate, hate, HATE making Danny look like the bad guy.**


	7. Chapter 7

**So after the last chapter I was like "Phanny you suck for making Danny look bad" so I'm trying to fix it.**

**But it needed to be done.**

**And so did this chapter.**

**--Phanny**

* * *

"Danny, come on." Sam rubbed the raven-haired boy's back soothingly, "it wasn't your fault."

"Of course it was!" Danny groaned as he sat in the grass of his back yard, "I said those things! What kind of hero am I if I make little girls cry, Sam?"

"Face it, Danny, she's gotten to you." Tucker told him, "you wouldn't feel so guilty is she hadn't."

"What do you mean, gotten to me?" Danny asked.

"I _mean _she's gotten under your skin," Tucker clarified, "hell, I feel bad for her too."

Danny sighed and lay down on his back, looking up at the sky. He said nothing for a long moment.

"Maybe I should…go find her. Clear my conscience at least." He finally said, standing up.

"Okay," Sam said, standing up as well, "we'll meet you here later."

Danny nodded and transformed, taking off without even knowing where to start looking for Riley.

He had to fix this as soon as possible, he thought as guilt churned in his stomach.

* * *

Riley heaved the tennis ball at the exterior wall of her house for the fiftieth time since she got home. She was angry and upset with Danny, at first because he'd told her to get lost, but now because she had realized that he had had every right to do it.

Maybe she should have left him and his friends alone more, but she didn't understand why she _couldn't. _She just didn't know why. She didn't know why she did anything anymore. She talked to people, but she might as well have been speaking gibberish, they didn't understand a word she said, she was sure of that. She didn't understand. Relating to people, making friends, it had always been so hard, that wasn't her fault!

Was it?

Riley caught her tennis ball and stared at it blankly before sitting down in the grass. It sure felt like it was her fault. Everything felt like her fault, every little thing made her feel bad. She wished she could do something that would just _fix _it.

"Who'm I kiddin'?" She asked no one, "I'm a friggin' mess."

She was even more of a mess when she tossed the ball and it rocketed back, hitting her in the face.

"Ow, geez!" She checked to see if her nose was bleeding or anything, but luckily she was fine. "not smart."

Suddenly, darkness enveloped her for a moment before her surroundings were replaced with a glowing green net. She screamed in terror as she felt herself being lifted into the air, so she barely heard the cruel laugh of her captor, and the angry shout from another source.

"Kidnapping thirteen year olds now, Skulker?" That sounded almost like Danny. "I thought even _you _were better than that!"

"Anything for the hunt, ghost child." So it was Danny Phantom! That would've been so cool if Riley wasn't being held captive. "It got you here, didn't it? And with little or no effort on my part."

"An easy target? That's what you're going for?" Danny Phantom sounded absolutely disgusted. "This is between you and me, Skulker, put her down!"

"Yeah! Put me down, ugly!" Riley said, her voice shaky but slightly brave.

Skulker shook the net slightly. "Shut up, human!"

"Okay."

"Skulker, if you want a fight, you'll get one, but leave Ri--the girl out of it!" Danny said, furious. This was low, even for _Skulker._

"I'll think about it, whelp." Skulker taunted, and with that, both he and Riley disappeared.

Danny stood there in shock for a moment before rushing back to his house. What a mess!

"Call yourself a hero?" He asked himself savagely. He shook his head, he didn't have time for self-loathing. He needed a plan, a good one.

His job was to protect the town and everyone--absolutely _everyone--_within it.

And he wasn't about to break his promise now.


	8. Chapter 8

**OMG what is this? A new chapter? At last?**

**This story is almost done, too! After this chapter there's an epilogue and then I will have actually...finished a story!**

**Not sure if I like this chapter or not. Meh, we'll see.**

**--Phanny  
**

* * *

Danny sat on his bed, as his room was the best place to discuss what they were going to do.

'They' being him, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz. They had been through so many things together, solved so many problems, and had fought countless ghost, both powerful and not.

So why did they not have a plan yet?

"Well," Jazz began when she realized that no one had said anything for awhile, "let's start with what know."

"We know it's a trap," Sam put in. "That's obvious enough."

"We know that Skulker knows that Danny'll got get Riley sooner or later." Tucker added.

"We know that there's no way I can get out of going to Skulker's island." Danny let out a resigned sigh. "I can't just leave her there. Not when I know there's a chance I can get her out of this."

"There is a chance," Jazz nodded, "but we're going to have to have a plan. Skulker's never taken a hostage before. At least not one who can't fight back."

Danny groaned in frustration, letting himself fall back onto his bed with a loud thump. "If I had just worked up the nerve to tell Riley to go away earlier, Skulker wouldn't have seen her hovering around me, and she wouldn't been involved in any of this."

"Don't beat yourself up, Danny." Sam soothed him. "The point is that she _is _involved in this, and regretting something that wasn't even your fault isn't going to get her out of it."

"The what _is?_" Danny shook his head, frustrated.

"What about the good ol' distraction plan, then?" Tucker offered, "it's worked before."

"Tucker, why would we do something that stupid?" Sam asked. Tucker glared at her.

"Because he won't be _expecting _us to do it." Tucker explained. "He's got booby traps all over that island, and he's anticipating a big, well planned rescue."

"And so," Danny was catching on, "if we just go with _your _plan, he'll be busy looking for some sort of surprise attack, making it easier."

"Huh. So stupid it might work." Jazz looked almost impressed.

"Exactly." Tucker looked triumphant. "And I will hold for the applause."

Tucker heard a cricket chirping as he sat back in his chair.

"Sam, give me back my PDA."

"Well," Danny stood up, stretching. "If we sort of have a plan, the we'd better get going."

"Yeah," Jazz said, slightly worried. "Poor girl's probably scared out of her mind."

* * *

"Hey, ugly! You let me out of this freakin' cage before I come down there and make you!"

Skulker's eye twitched in annoyance. "If you could come down here and make me let you out of the cage, wouldn't you then _already_ be out of the cage?"

"Don't correct my insults!" Riley roared at him. She _had _been scared out of her mind when she had first arrived, but when she realized that Skulker was only using her for bait and was very unlikely to hurt her, she decided to give him hell for awhile. Just until Danny Phantom came to save her. "Terminator wannabe!"

Skulker had to constantly remind himself to keep his eyes on the prize. If he killed her now, the whelp may just get mad enough to unleash his full power on him. No, _he _was the one in control here! He'd finally get that kid, no matter what it took.

But still…

"Wipe that stupid smile off your face!"

"I'm not smiling."

"You're darn right you're not! You're just a big scared piece of…whatever! You smell!"

He suddenly began to appreciate the witty banter the ghost child possessed if _this _was the full use of the normal teenaged mind in action. He would've just taken one of the ghost child's friends or his sister, no matter how much more of a fight they would have put up.

"Calm yourself, Skulker," the hunter chanted in his mind, "it will be worth it in the end. It had _better _be worth it in the end…" He felt something hit the top of his head.

"Did you just spit on me?!"

"I was aiming for your eye!"

"And _I'm _aiming for your _face!_" Riley would recognize Danny Phantom's voice anywhere. A green ecto-blast took Skulker by surprise and he was knocked back as Danny landed on the ground, looking pretty mad.

"I still don't believe it," he said, "'The Ghost Zones Greatest Hunter' picking on preteen girls."

"I can't believe you fell for this so easily!" Skulker said, sounding triumphant.

"Oh, you thought this was going to be easy?" Danny took to their air, aiming more blasts at the ghost, "what kind of hunter are you?"

And the very violent distraction began. Danny only had to keep Skulker busy until the others got Riley out, and _then _the actual butt-kicking would begin.

* * *

Riley couldn't believe it. Danny Phantom was fighting to save her again! He must really like her!

Riley didn't even notice that the door to her cage had been opened until she was pulled out by three familiar faces.

"Hey, it's you guys--" Sam clasped her hand over the younger girls' mouth as she began to yell. She nodded to Tucker, and he spoke through what looked like a headset.

"Danny? We got her. Commence ass-kicking, please."

All of a sudden they heard the blasts and shouts grow louder and much more frequent.

"You guys know Danny Phantom?" Sam had made the mistake of letting Riley speak again, "why didn't you tell me?"

"Uh…" Sam and Tucker wished they had an answer. Instead they just tried to drag Riley back to the Specter Speeder that had been parked where Skulker couldn't have seen it, "we'll tell you later when we get home."

"But I don't want to go! I wanna watch the--" A piece of flying debris caused the three kids to duck, and Riley's eyes widened, "okay, let's go home. Home sounds good."

"Tucker, go do your techno-PDA-Control-Thingy," Sam said, leading Riley away. Tucker nodded, though he looked annoyed at Sam's lack of knowledge of technical terminology. Well, she knew it, she just didn't really care to remember it.

"So how do you know Danny Phantom, huh?" Riley asked as Tucker walked towards where the fight was taking place, "do ya help him? You're his helpers, huh? Sidekicks! You're his--where's Danny, by the way?"

"Uhm," Sam stuttered. She was usually so good at excuses about Danny's whereabouts, but she'd never had to make one to someone who wasn't either Danny's parents or a teacher, "he's…"

"He's still mad, huh?" Riley sounded sad, "I knew he'd still be mad. I'm no good at…relationships? I was annoying."

"No…" Sam hated sugarcoating things, "okay yeah. You were. But he's not still mad at you. He just had…important things to do."

"I know, I'm a pest," Riley shrugged as they finally reached the Specter Speeder, "can't help it. People don't like me."

"Well you come on a little strong," Sam said honestly, "and you don't sing very well. Not as bad as Tucker, but…just no."

"Ouch," Riley pouted, "what a heartwarming chat. No wonder Danny likes you. You're all honest and junk."

Sam took a deep breath and said nothing. Objecting to that first statement would only prove the second one wrong.

* * *

At the Fenton household, all was well once more. Skulker had been defeated, his suit almost completely ruined, and Riley was safe and just as hyper as ever.

And she was currently sitting on the couch with Danny, informing him in full detail of what had happened while she was captured.

"And I kept insulting him even after he yelled at me, and he looked mad, but you could tell he was so scared! If wasn't in a cage I woulda given him a right--and then a left and then a right! And then a swift kick in the--"

"That sounds incredibly interesting," Danny said, laughing at the ridiculousness of her story but genuinely entertained. He definitely believed that if she had the chance, she would have tried to do all the things she was telling him she would.

"And then Danny Phantom came and he fought the guy and then Sam and Tucker saved me but where were you? Whenever Danny Phantom's around you never are!"

"Really now?" Danny took a slow breath, hoping she wouldn't but two and two together.

"Mhmm," Riley had an incredibly thoughtful look on her face, and she closed her eyes, thinking hard.

Danny waited, and she finally looked as though she was about to speak.

"What a coincidence, huh?"

Danny breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

**You didn't think Riley was smart enough to figure it out on her own, did you? ;)**


	9. Epilogue

**Epilogue ho! **

**Here we have a touching moment, a psychiatric analysis of Riley's crazy head, and when reading this chapter you will lose The Game.**

**Like you did just now. Ha.**

**--Phanny  
**

* * *

Jazz Fenton was growing frustrated with the skinny brunette in front of her, staring at her innocently.

"You gonna shrink my head, Jazz?" She asked, "if you do and it like falls off, can I keep it?"

"Yes, you can keep it," Jazz mused, "now, how would you describe your relationships with people you meet?"

"Uh…" Riley thought for a moment, "…clingy, annoying, unbearable and yet surprisingly adorable and charming at the same time."

Jazz blinked, "you're very…observant."

"I know, right?"

"Anyway," Jazz pressed on, "why do you think you're clingy?"

"Iunno," Riley shrugged, "when I moved here I just got that way."

"Anything special happen when you moved here?"

Riley sighed, thinking, "…my mom died."

Jazz felt a pang of pity, having never seen the girl looking so sullen before.

"Maybe that's it," Jazz said, "if you don't mind me asking, how did she die?"

Riley shook her head, "she was driving home form work…and some _idiot _drunk just hit her. I was at summer camp, though."

"I think that _is _it," Jazz told her, sounding sympathetic, "you were away from her, and when you came back, she was gone. Are you afraid that if you get too far away from someone you like, they'll be gone when you come back?"

Silently, Riley nodded, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them, "I know it's stupid, but I can't help it. I get scared."

"It's not stupid," Jazz told the younger girl, "it's in most of my books, it's normal to be anxious about that sort of thing. But you're letting it control you, and that's not good for you."

"So I should stop. How do I stop?"

"Well, I'm no professional yet, so maybe you should find one," Jazz shrugged, "ask you're dad or someone. You're dad's okay, isn't he?"

"Mhmm," Riley nodded, "and my sister."

Suddenly, the girl brightened, "I feel kind of better now. Can I go?"

"Yup," Jazz nodded, "remember--" Riley had already exited the room, and Jazz sighed. That was probably the longest time she'd ever sat still.

* * *

"Hey! Hey! Hey Danny? Danny I know you can hear me! Danny! Don't ignore me! That's mean! You're not asleep!"

"Yes I am," Danny frowned as he lay on the grass on a hill in the park, Sam and Tucker on his left, and Riley on his right, shaking him vigorously.

"You are not!"

"I talk in my sleep," Danny told her, not opening his eyes, "stop shaking me. Cease. Cease the shaking."

"Don't use words I don't understand!" Riley exclaimed, "that's even _meaner._"

"Mean is in the eye of the beholder," Sam said, "I think it would be mean to go up to someone who's trying to rest and shake them."

"Who asked you?" Riley murmured, "just wake up or something! I gotta tell you something!"

"What?" Danny asked, his eyes still closed, "and if you tell me I lost The Game I will roll you down this hill."

"No, it's not that!" Riley said, crossing her arms, "it's more of a question."

"Shoot."

"You guys know Danny Phantom, right?" All three teens tensed, but Riley didn't notice, "well…see…"

"Go on," Danny said apprehensively.

"And he can go into the 'Ghost Zone' place, right?"

"Yup," Sam nodded.

"Well, next time you see him…do you think you could ask him--I mean, if he has time--if he could say hi to my mom for me? Tell her I miss her?" She pulled out her wallet, "this is her picture."

Riley handed Danny the picture of her mother.

"She looks like you," Danny murmured, "do you want the picture back, or…?"

"I got more," Riley said, "just ask him, kay? He doesn't have to."

Danny looked at her, then at the picture, then back at Riley.

"I think we could manage that."

Riley tackled Danny, Sam, and Tucker with suffocating hugs before looking at her watch, "I gotta go home. Thanks guys!"

Danny was silent for a moment, "I guess I could find the time to do her a favor."

"Just hope she doesn't try to pay you back." Sam replied, smirking.

Even though they'd only known Riley for a week or two, Danny could call their experiences…interesting. In a good-bad way, depending on how you look at it. Danny looked up at the sky and decided that hey, he'd met people much worse than her.

'…_Eh, she's not so bad. Not really.'_

"And you _did _lose The Game!" Riley shouted from far off.

"Oh, just go home!" All three teens chimed in, and there was silence. She did listen when she wanted to.

* * *

A few days later, Riley awoke in her bed, yawning and stretching before flopping back down on her pillow.

She heard the sound of crinkling paper when she shifted her head on her pillow and reached under it to find…a note?

A _glowing_ note. How cool was that? Glowing paper! Riley unfolded the note and read it.

There were only three lines of curly writing that she recognized instantly. She took a deep breath as her eyes watered. She smiled.

_Riley,_

_I miss you too. All of you._

_Love mom_

Riley left the note on her bed while she fetched a thumbtack and pinned it to her wall and ran down the hall.

"Maya, Dad, come see! Come see what I got!"

She instantly woke up her father and sister and brought them to her room--she loved them both, but the note was special, she didn't want it to get lost.

When her father asked where it came from, she answered vaguely.

"I know a guy."

Danny Phantom was definitely her hero. The best hero in the world.

After a moment of thought, she added, "I know _three _guys, actually. And a girl."

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were pretty cool too, after all.

* * *

**Sooo...if Riley pops up in another story you can't say I didn't warn you.**

**Kthnxbai.  
**


End file.
